Summary
Highlights
The period begins with Lord Durham's report, which proposed uniting Upper and Lower Canada to assimilate French Canadians. The Act of Union in 1840 created the United Canada. Initially, Britain refused responsible government, but an alliance of reformers, including Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine and Robert Baldwin, successfully pushed for ministerial responsibility, granted in 1848.
Despite the reformers' alliance, political life in the Province of Canada was marked by instability due to a two-party system where no single party held a majority. Economically, Britain abolished protectionism in 1846, forcing Canada to seek new trade partners. Canada turned to the United States, signing a reciprocity treaty in 1854 for duty-free exchange of raw materials and agricultural products.
The American Civil War (1861-1865) led the U.S. to end the reciprocity treaty in 1866. This prompted Canadian politicians to seek an internal market and a vast railway network from east to west. The idea of confederation gained traction, leading to the formation of the Great Coalition in 1864, involving George Brown, George-Étienne Cartier, and John A. Macdonald.
The Great Coalition held conferences in Charlottetown and Quebec in 1864 to discuss forming a confederation. While Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island initially rejected the idea, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia agreed. The resulting 72 resolutions included proportional representation and the commitment to a transcontinental railway. In 1866, delegates went to London, leading to the British Parliament adopting the British North America Act on March 29, 1867, establishing Canada as a Dominion with John A. Macdonald as its first Prime Minister.
The late 19th century saw Canada's first industrial phase, driven by steam power and mechanized production. This led to poor working conditions, low wages, long hours (60 hours/week), and the exploitation of women and children in factories. Workers began to organize into unions, and a federal law in 1872 recognized the legality of unions and strikes. The forestry industry remained crucial, with lumber exports to the U.S. and the rise of pulp and paper industries. Dairy and grain production also expanded. Rural overpopulation caused an exodus to cities, leading to urbanization. However, a lack of jobs caused many French Canadians to emigrate to the U.S., a phenomenon known as 'la grande saignée.'
In response to economic crisis and the need for internal development, Prime Minister John A. Macdonald introduced the National Policy in 1879. This policy aimed to protect Canadian industries through higher tariffs on imported goods, finance railway expansion (including a transcontinental line to British Columbia), and encourage immigration to settle and farm the fertile western prairies. The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) was founded in 1881 to facilitate this expansion.
Railway construction and settler expansion into the Canadian West disrupted the lives of Métis and Indigenous peoples. In 1869, a Métis uprising, led by Louis Riel, resulted in the creation of Manitoba in 1870, with Riel's demands for Métis rights acknowledged. However, Riel and other leaders were forced to flee. A second Métis uprising occurred in 1885 when Riel returned from exile. This rebellion was suppressed by the Canadian government, and Riel was executed. Indigenous peoples were forced into reserves through numbered treaties, marking the beginning of cultural genocide through the establishment of residential schools aimed at assimilating Indigenous children.
In Quebec, the Catholic Church maintained significant moral and political authority during this period. While some groups, like the Institut Canadien de Montréal, advocated anti-clericalism, Archbishop Ignace Bourget promoted Ultramontanism, asserting the Pope's supreme authority. The Catholic Church gained control over education, hospitals, and orphanages in Quebec, becoming a protector of French-Canadian language, culture, and religion against British, English, and Protestant immigration. This led to a 'nationalisme de survivance,' a nationalism focused on the survival of French-Canadian identity defined by Catholic faith, French language, traditional rural life, and a patriarchal family structure.